The Purposeful Strategist, a podcast from Menkus & Associates in partnership with Norman Broadbent, shares conversations with CEOs on how they translate organisational purpose into bold strategy, real impact, and lasting results.
How do you renew a 50-year-old financial mutual without losing the values that gave it meaning in the first place? In this episode, Jim Islam, Chief Executive Officer of OneFamily, shares how he is guiding one of the UK’s largest mutual financial organisations through a period of reinvention—broadening its relevance and reach while staying firmly anchored in its purpose of inspiring better futures.
Founded in the 1970s with a commitment to inclusion and long-term financial resilience, OneFamily has evolved from a small London operation into the UK’s largest Child Trust Fund provider, now supporting more than 1.5 million customers. Jim discusses how the organisation has diversified its offering, invested heavily in technology, and redesigned customer journeys to ensure long-term savings and protection products remain accessible and meaningful for new generations.
Jim reflects on leadership in purpose-driven systems—why mutual and cooperative models are seeing renewed relevance, how deeply collaborative strategy-building creates genuine engagement during change, and why innovation should always begin with people rather than products. Drawing on his own experience of social mobility and a career spanning start-ups and large institutions, he offers a thoughtful perspective on possibility, trust, and the role financial services can play in building more resilient futures.